Babysitting Exchange

I think it's totally normal to be tired all day and then wake up at four in the morning wide awake, don't you?
Carlie visited a while ago and she has a pressure cooker and when I wasn't busy being so paranoid that she wasn't having fun and her kid hated my kid it was awesome. I was just thinking about the pressure cooker Carlie and missing her steel cut oats, which were excellent. Something about Carlie makes me want to work out more. Also having people over brings out the inner food pusher in me. If someone says they aren't hungry- that could just mean they aren't hungry for what you are offering because it doesn't sound that great. Just keep offering and eventually you will find something.
Speaking of which when Danielle wakes up and we don't have any peaches she is going to be seriously bummed.

For family home evening we started decorating for Halloween.  We have a craft of about ten minutes each week and a super short lesson. This week it was making a "bouquet" of bats.  The next morning Danielle was adding knuffle bunny to the bouquet with a craft lollipop stick and duct tape.  I almost died it was so cute.

after careful consideration I've decided I need to start having a babysitting exchange.  But like the Mother's day present one of the guys in the ward here did- where John calls someone and asks them to watch our kids. Seriously my friend's husband got 2 babysitters in one weekend and I had an overwhelming feeling of jealousy.  I would totally have watched her kid- and why didn't John think of that? Then I learned it was a mother's day present.  an EXCELLENT present. It would be awesome to have John plan something like this- but someone else thought of it first and we don't have a massive ward. Brilliant. Still jealous months later. But in a good way.

who wouldn't want to have a babysitting exchange with these kids?  Don't mind the nutella on the corners of their mouths...

I always find that people say they want to babysit trade but they don't actually.  Also when they say so we can go on a "date" do you think they mean "so Janae can take a nap"? I can just never actually arrange things. Which makes me worried that I have two of the "bad kids" that no one actually wants to trade with. Or that I am too unorganized to plan something like that so I am one of the "flaky" people. I would totally start the trade. My friend Suzy and I traded like once but then she had a baby. Those tend to stop progress in my life for half a year or so... So I could trade like I can watch their kid every Friday from 4 until whenever and then they could watch my kids on Saturday or something. Just planning it is overwhelming- pretty much someone should just show up on Friday night with kids and I'll watch them. I will  might feed them Popsicles though so...

Danielle has decided that we need to take more photos of her. like lots more. sometimes I do it even though it's in the middle of the night and there is laundry all over the chair.  after all, she did have quite a lovely dress on.

Mark loves his stuffed animals. Mostly he loves his tickle me elmo which is on the floor in this picture.  Also loves?  Jammas jammas jammas of all kinds.

You guessed it- our babysitter went to college. 
After one week of preschool Danielle has decided she needs to clean all the things every day.  She straightened the whole downstairs during quiet time two days ago and yesterday (a few hours ago) she cleaned up Mark's room and her own room. I was so happy that she picked things up off the floor that I think I might have squealed a little in delight.